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Honda Sues Hero Electric for intellectual property infringement

Honda claims that Hero Electric has copied its Moove scooter design.

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Honda Moove

Honda Motors Japan has filed a case against Hero Electric for infringement of its registered designs for one of its scooters. Honda claims that Hero’s electric-scooter, the Dash, which was released in India last year, is a copycat of one of their scooters, the Honda Moove, which is being sold in Thailand. 

This prompted Honda to file an interim petition for relief seeking an ad-interim injunction against Hero Electric with a prayer to ask them to stop them from manufacturing, selling, and even advertising the Dash e-scooter. The claim is centered on three design elements that Honda claims to be infringing on namely: the front lamps, the rear lamps, and the rear cover. It should be remembered that in the past, the Japanese motorcycle brand had a fruitful and healthy relationship with Hero Motocorp, on which they entered into a joint partnership which lasted from 1984 to 2010. However, while Hero Electric is a separate entity from Hero Motorcorp, it is still run by the same members of the Munjal family from India.

Honda Moove and Hero Dash

The Honda Moove is a fuel-powered 110 cc scooter exclusively sold in Thailand while the Hero Electric Dash is an electric scooter that boasts of lithium-ion rechargeable batteries with a range of 60 km on a single charge with a recharge time between four to 8 hours.

With India about to implement their more stringent emissions standards throughout the country,  the government is poised to pave the way for a transition to electric vehicles. Experts are claiming that Honda’s move in filing a case against Hero Electric was motivated by their design to enter the electric scooter market in India, which also happens to be one of the biggest motorcycle markets in the world. Their government is planning to completely ban small fuel-powered motorcycles by 2025. 

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